Council Clerk status maintained

Akron voters Tuesday decided not to change the status of the Clerk of Council from a position in the mayor's administration to one appointed by Akron City Council.

If Issue 7 had passed, Council would have the authority to hire or fire the Clerk of Council. The measure failed with 53 percent in opposition.

During a special meeting called during summer recess, Council voted to place on the ballot the proposal to change the status of the Clerk of Council from a civil service position to an unclassified service position. A similar measure failed in 2006.

Council, however, did see its wish come true with the overwhelming passage of Issue 5, the referendum on so-called payday loans which Council endorsed by resolution. Voters statewide passed the initiative which essentially keeps the reforms passed in Ohio House Bill 545, which namely caps interest rates on these short-term loans at 28 percent, increases the term of those loans from two weeks to 30 days, limits borrowers to fourmaximum $500 loans per year, offers access to other small loan alternatives and bans Internet lending.